#Proxie pay full#

A large portion of consumer companies, which are more likely to have seasonal or part-time employees, have filed earlier than other sectors, resulting in a lower median employee compensation value for 2021. It’s worth noting that the lower value in median employee pay is a function of the types of companies that have filed their proxies thus far. Prior to 2021, compensation for the median employee increased every year since 2018.įigure 3: Median Employee Compensation (Equilar 500)

Median employee compensation for companies that have reported thus far for 2021 is $61,396, an 8.3% decrease from 2020. The spike in the CEO Pay Ratio for 2021 is being driven by both increased CEO pay as well as a decline in compensation for the median employee. The median CEO Pay Ratio increased in each year of the study period, and if the current trend for 2021 holds, then it would be the largest year-over-year increase since the ratio became a required SEC disclosure during the 2018 proxy season. According to the analysis, the median CEO Pay Ratio so far in 2021 is 245:1, representing a 27.6% increase from 192:1 in 2020 and a 35.4% increase from 181:1 in 2018 (Figure 2). With CEO compensation increasing, the CEO Pay Ratio-the ratio of CEO-to-typical-worker compensation-is following suit. The CEO Pay Ratio Rises, While Median Employee Pay Declines Over the last two years, many companies elected to award their CEOs for staying on board and guiding their organizations through turbulent times, likely contributing to the increase in pay.įigure 1: CEO Total Direct Compensation (Equilar 500) This change from $12 million in 2020 would represent a near 20% increase, should the trend persist.

In 2021, median total direct compensation for companies included in the analysis increased to $14.3 million. Two years after the start of the pandemic, the early data shows that CEO pay is back on the rise. Ultimately, many companies restored those adjustments, but median CEO pay declined from $12.2 million in 2019 to $12 million in 2020 (Figure 1). For example, many CEOs saw salary cuts, adjustments to bonus payouts, changes in long-term incentive plans (LTIPs) and more. CEO Pay Appears to Bounce Back Strongly From Pandemic “Woes”įollowing the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, several companies adjusted their executive pay packages to ease the burden of the pandemic on employees. public companies by revenue-as of March 18, 2022, to offer a preview of how executive compensation was structured in 2021, as well as key trends to watch through the remainder of proxy season. In this post, Equilar examines a sample of early DEF14A proxy filings from Equilar 500 companies-the 500 largest U.S. public companies will file proxy statements highlighting trends pertaining to their governance practices, including those related to executive compensation. Over the next two months, thousands of U.S.

#Proxie pay full#

The 2022 proxy season is now in full swing.